Trump, speaking to reporters on Thursday during a trip to London, said “we want that base back” and cited what he called its strategic location near China.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s goal of re-occupying Bagram air base in Afghanistan might end up looking like a re-invasion of the country, requiring more than 10,000 troops as well as deployment of advanced air defenses, current and former U.S. officials say. (Reuters)
Trump, speaking to reporters on Thursday during a trip to London, said “we want that base back” and cited what he called its strategic location near China.
“It’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons,” Trump said.
The sprawling airfield was the main base for American forces in Afghanistan during the two decades of war that followed the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington by al Qaeda.
Trump, who has previously said he wants the United States to acquire territories and sites ranging from the Panama Canal to Greenland, has appeared focused on Bagram for years.
He hinted on Thursday that the U.S. could acquire the base with some kind of Islamic Emirate consent, but it was unclear what form such an agreement might take. It would be a remarkable turnaround for the Islamic Emirate, which fought to expel U.S. troops and retake the country from a U.S.-backed government.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was no active planning to militarily take over Bagram air base, which the U.S. abandoned along with the rest of the country when it withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.
The official said any effort to reclaim the base would be a significant undertaking.
The official said it would require tens of thousands of troops to take and hold Bagram air base, an expensive effort to repair the base, and a logistical headache to resupply the base — which would be an isolated U.S. enclave in a landlocked country.
Even after the U.S. military took control of the base, it would require a huge undertaking to clear and hold the massive perimeter around it to avoid the area from being used to launch rocket attacks against American forces inside.
“I don’t see how this can realistically happen,” the official said.
Experts say the sprawling air base would be difficult to secure initially and require massive manpower to operate and protect.
Even if the Islamic Emirate accepted the U.S. re-occupation of Bagram following negotiations, it would need to be defended from a host of threats including Islamic State and al Qaeda militants inside Afghanistan.
It could also be vulnerable to an advanced missile threat from Iran, which attacked a major U.S. air base in Qatar in June after the United States struck Iranian nuclear sites.
A former senior U.S. defense official played down the benefits of retaking the base, including the base’s proximity to China that was touted by Trump.
“I don’t think there’s a particular military advantage to being up there,” the former official said. “The risks sort of outweigh the advantages.”
In February, Trump complained that Biden had given up the base and said there had been a plan to keep a small U.S. force there, even though his February 2020 accord with the Taliban required a pullout of all U.S.-led international forces.
Trump’s comments came as the Pentagon is carrying out a review into the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, which many policy leaders in his administration viewed as a distraction from bigger challenges facing the United States — like competition from China.
Meanwhile, The Second Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s intention to retake the Bagram airbase, stated that a military presence has never been accepted by Afghans throughout history. He emphasized that this possibility was completely rejected during the Doha talks and agreement.
Zakir Jalali wrote on his X page that Afghanistan and the United States need to engage with one another and can establish economic and political relations based on mutual respect and shared interests “without the United States maintaining any military presence in any part of Afghanistan.”
Trump’s Dream of Retaking Bagram Could Resemble an Afghan Re-Invasion
Some economic experts also have differing views regarding the $13 billion in UN aid to the country.
Roza Otunbayeva, the Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), has stated that since 2021, the international community has provided $13 billion in aid to Afghanistan.
In her latest report to the UN Security Council, she emphasized that $7.9 billion of that amount has been allocated for humanitarian aid and $4.9 billion for basic human needs.
She said: “Since 2021 the international community has provided nearly thirteen billion US dollars of international assistance: 7.9 billion for humanitarian funding and 4.9 billion for basic human needs. Despite some reports to the contrary, for the most part this has been distributed without major interference.”
These remarks come amid ongoing criticism regarding the delivery mechanisms and administrative costs of aid organizations operating in Afghanistan.
Some economic experts also have differing views regarding the $13 billion in UN aid to the country.
Sayed Masood, an economic analyst, stated: “Organizations implementing this aid, including the United Nations, spend a large portion of the funds on their own administrative costs.”
Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate maintains that the aid has primarily been humanitarian in nature and distributed transparently to the public.
Abdul Latif Nazari, Deputy Minister of Economy, said: “Fortunately, this aid has been distributed under oversight and with transparency to deserving and needy individuals, and in some cases, it has also contributed to the development of Afghanistan’s infrastructure and economic foundations.”
At the UN Security Council meeting, several countries—including China, Iran, Russia, Pakistan, and India—also emphasized the importance of economic cooperation and stability in Afghanistan.
China’s special envoy called for the release of Afghanistan’s frozen foreign reserves, and Russia stated its intention to enhance bilateral trade and economic cooperation and create new opportunities for the Afghan people.
UNAMA: $13 Billion in Aid Provided to Afghanistan Since 2021
Elian Peltier reported from Karachi, Pakistan, and Lynsey Chutel reported from London.
The New York Times
September 20, 2025
A picture released by the Qatari government show Peter and Barbara Reynolds, on the right, with British and Qatari diplomats on a plane after they were released from custody in Afghanistan. Credit…Qatar Government.
Peter Reynolds, 80, and Barbara Reynolds, 76, ran education programs in Afghanistan for almost two decades. They were arrested on Feb. 1 when they were returning to their home in Bamiyan Province, in the center of the country.
On Friday, a spokesman for the Afghan foreign ministry, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, said on social media that they had “violated the laws of Afghanistan,” and were released “following the judicial process,” but provided little detail about the allegations against the couple.
The Reynolds were released as Western countries, including the United States, have renewed efforts to free their citizens held by the Taliban. In a rare visit to Afghanistan last week, Adam Boehler, the Trump administration’s special envoy for hostage affairs, met with the Afghan foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, in Kabul.
The Taliban said after the meeting that “the two sides would undertake an exchange of detainees,” but neither the White House nor the State Department commented.
The Qatari government facilitated the release of Peter and Barbara Reynolds, Afghan and British officials said. Britain and other European nations withdrew diplomatic staff from Afghanistan in 2021 as the Taliban returned to power, but Qatar has maintained an embassy in Kabul and kept diplomatic channels open to the Taliban government.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain thanked Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, saying in a statement that Qatar had played “vital role” in securing the couple’s freedom.
“This is a moment of immense joy for our family,” the couple’s four children said in a statement thanking the diplomats who negotiated their release.
For the first few months of their detention, the Reynolds were held separately in the Pul-e-Charki prison in Kabul, they have said. In the spring, the couple was transferred to a facility managed by Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency, but their children have said they received scant details about their detention.
Conditions improved for the couple following diplomatic efforts, their children said. After fears that Mr. Reynolds had suffered a stroke or heart attack, they were able to receive medication, and in recent weeks, they were allowed phone calls and walks outside.
“This experience has reminded us of the power of diplomacy, empathy, and international cooperation,” the children said.
The Reynolds’ connection to Afghanistan extends back to their youth. According to their company’s website, they married in Kabul more than 50 years ago.
After the Taliban took over Afghanistan, triggering the withdrawal of Western troops, many charities evacuated their staffs.
But the Reynolds decided to stay. They continued to run workshops, hiring new staff and adapting to Taliban rule, according to the website for Rebuild, their company. The Afghan government is listed as one of its clients.
The company is based in Kabul but has operated across the country. Its workshops included management and leadership training, but Sarah Entwistle, a daughter of the Reynolds, also said one program taught parenting skills to young mothers.
Since retaking power, the Taliban have barred girls from attending schools beyond sixth grade and prevented women from most professional activities. Some international organizations have tried to provide Afghan women professional training in handicraft and other jobs that remain accessible to them.
After the Reynolds were released, the British government reiterated that its citizens should not travel to Afghanistan. Britain’s ability to support its citizens in Afghanistan “is extremely limited,” Hamish Falconer, Britain’s minister for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in a statement.
A growing number of Western tourists, including travel influencers, have visited Afghanistan, often showcasing the country’s stunning landscapes while not mentioning the severe restrictions that the Taliban have imposed on Afghan people.
Stephen Castle contributed reporting from London.
Elian Peltier is an international correspondent for The Times, covering Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Lynsey Chutel is a Times reporter based in London who covers breaking news in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
Taliban Releases British Couple Detained for Months in Afghanistan
Such an outcome would signify a remarkable rapprochement after the U.S. fought a 20-year war against the militant group.
LONDON — The United States is working to regain control of Bagram air base from the Taliban in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump said Thursday, describing it as “one of the biggest air bases in the world” and suggesting it is “an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.”
“Okay, that could be a little breaking news,” Trump said during a news conference with Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a state visit to Britain. “We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back.”
It was not immediately clear how far talks over the return of the base, which the U.S. military left four years ago, to American control have progressed or how they were conducted.
signify a remarkable rapprochement. The United States ousted the Taliban from power after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and waged war against them for 20 years before a disastrous withdrawal in 2021 led to the collapse of the U.S.-backed government and the Taliban’s return to power. Relations between the two sides have been almost nonexistent since then amid the Taliban’s repressive rule.
In a response to The Washington Post on Friday, the Taliban government’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, declined to comment on Trump’s comments. “We have already stated our position in the past,” he said in a voice note, adding that “this would be a repetition.” Mujahid and other Taliban officials had previously ruled out any U.S. military presence in the country.
Taliban leaders have pushed hard to break their isolation, arguing that their stance on human rights is a “domestic matter” that should be free from foreign interference. The Taliban also want sanctions against them dropped and access restored to central bank assets that the United States froze after their violent takeover.
Earlier this year, Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban as the legitimate authority in Afghanistan, a move that Moscow said would allow for increased coordination on counterterrorism. An affiliate of the Islamic State group that maintains a presence in Afghanistan’s east asserted responsibility for an attack in Russia last year.
Despite considerable international pressure, the Taliban have not significantly moderated any of their positions on the rights of women and girls since taking power in 2021.
While the United States has not granted the Taliban formal recognition, senior U.S. officials have met with the group to negotiate the release of Americans held in Afghanistan.
Adam Boehler, special envoy for hostage response, was photographed this month in Kabul meeting with Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. The Taliban later released a statement that the two sides had agreed to a prisoner swap as part of an effort to normalize relations. Boehler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Previous Trump comments have suggested he wants to regain control of Bagram as a counter to China, but it is unclear what he meant. Bagram remains under the control of the Taliban. China has maintained significant economic ties with Afghanistan throughout the Taliban takeover. China is involved in mineral exploitation in Afghanistan and invited the country to join a multibillion-dollar infrastructure project it is pursuing with Pakistan.
Trump was speaking about the base as he criticized former president Joe Biden for the U.S. withdrawal in 2021, which he described as a “total disaster.” Trump, who had made the initial plans to pull out of Afghanistan during his first term in office, said he would have done it with “strength and dignity.” He signed that withdrawal deal despite years of internal discussion about the long-term strategic value of the base, including its proximity to China and use as a counterterrorism hub in the region.
Bagram, about 40 miles north of Kabul in Parwan province, had served as the center of the U.S. counterterrorism campaign across Afghanistan after the 2001 invasion. The base was built for the Soviet Union in the 1950s, but with two large concrete runways, it was later able to serve as the launch site for fighter jets, cargo planes and drones during the U.S. military presence.
The site also became notorious for detention centers where torture occurred under the watch of U.S. and Afghan officials, according to reports from the United Nations, human rights groups and the U.S. government itself.
The air base itself was handed over to the Afghan government in July 2021 as the U.S. military prepared to withdraw. It was overrun by Taliban forces the following month and has since seen little use.
George reported from Washington. Dan Lamothe, Rick Noack, and Haq Nawaz Khan contributed to this report.
Trump says he is working to get Afghan air base from Taliban
An Afghan official rejected the idea of a renewed presence for the U.S. military in the country, but left the door open for “political and economic relations.”
Taliban officials late Thursday rejected a suggestion by President Trump that the United States might regain control of the last major base it abandoned during its withdrawal from Afghanistan, but they left open the possibility of talks to improve ties between the two countries.
During a news conference on Thursday with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, Mr. Trump said that his administration had been working to reclaim the facility, the Bagram Air Base outside Kabul, which U.S. forces abandoned in 2021 shortly before the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan.
“We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us,” Mr. Trump said. He added that Bagram was strategically important for the United States because “it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.”
Mr. Trump has said in the past that the United States should not have abandoned the air base, but his comments on Thursday were the first public acknowledgment that negotiations to reclaim it might be underwa
The Taliban government was quick to respond, suggesting that it was open to conversation but not the return of U.S. security personnel.
“Without the U.S. having any military presence in Afghanistan, both Afghanistan and the U.S. need to engage with each other, and they can have political and economic relations based on mutual respect and shared interests,” Zakir Jalaly, an Afghan foreign ministry official, said on social media.
“Afghans have never accepted the military presence of anyone throughout history,” Mr. Jalaly added. “But for other kinds of engagement, all paths remain open for them.” He called Mr. Trump “a good businessman and negotiator, more than just a politician.”
Other officials were less diplomatic. Muhajer Farahi, a deputy minister, posted part of a poem on X: “Those who once smashed their heads against the rocks with us, their minds have still not found peace.” He ended his post with “Bagram, Afghanistan.”
Mr. Trump did not specify in his comments on Thursday what he envisioned for Bagram. The United States has kept a minimal level of public engagement with Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, restricting it to hostage negotiations. In a rare visit to Afghanistan last week, Adam Boehler, the Trump administration’s special envoy for hostage response, met with the Afghan foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, in Kabul.
The State Department referred any comment about Bagram to the White House, which referred comments to the Department of Defense. It said in a statement on Thursday that “we are always ready to execute any mission at the president’s direction.”
In Washington, congressional Democrats assailed Mr. Trump’s comments.
“It’s deeply, deeply troubling that the president of the United States can be that idiotic,” Representative Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said in an interview.
Afghanistan has remained largely isolated on the global stage since the Taliban took control, in August 2021. The Taliban government has not been recognized by any country other than Russia. Its economy is struggling to attract foreign support and private investments. And as high-level meetings at the United Nations General Assembly are set to begin on Monday, Afghanistan will once again not be represented because its officials face a U.N. travel ban.
Bagram, which sits 25 miles north of Kabul and was built by the Soviet Union in the 1950s, was the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan during its 20-year occupation of the country.
Mr. Trump said in March that the United States should have stayed at Bagram “not because of Afghanistan but because of China, because it’s exactly one hour away from where China makes its nuclear missiles.” At the time, he claimed that Bagram was “now under China’s influence,” which the Taliban denied.
The 2020 deal signed between the Taliban and United States under the first Trump administration contained no provision to retain Bagram Air Base or any other foothold. It stated that the United States would “withdraw from Afghanistan all military forces of the United States.”
During its withdrawal from Afghanistan, the United States left behind thousands of weapons and other pieces of military equipment and a sprawling embassy compound that sits vacant in the center of Kabul. U.S. military uniforms and shoes can still be found in Kabul’s bazaars, and a message in graffiti greets international visitors coming from the airport: “Our nation defeated America with the help of God.”
Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington, and Safiullah Padshah from Kabul, Afghanistan.
Elian Peltier is an international correspondent for The Times, covering Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Taliban Rebuffs Trump’s Effort to Regain Air Base in Afghanistan
Taimoor Shah reporting from Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Elian Peltier from Karachi, Pakistan.
The New York Times
Some provincial officials said the country’s leader instructed them to switch off Wi-Fi in their area to limit the “misuse of the internet” and diffusion of “immoral acts.”
Internet shutdowns hit several provinces of Afghanistan this week in an apparent attempt by the country’s authorities to limit its use and, in at least one province, the diffusion of content deemed immoral, according to government officials.
Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Taliban and of Afghanistan since 2021, instructed governors this month to cut off Wi-Fi access in their provinces to curb the “misuse of the internet,” according to Mahmood Ezam, a spokesman for the governor of Kandahar Province.
“Fiber internet was shut down by order of the Supreme Leader,” Mr. Ezam said in a telephone interview on Wednesday, referring to Sheikh Haibatullah.
He did not elaborate on what was meant by misuse. But Wi-Fi was also suspended — based on the same order — in the northern province of Balkh to prevent the diffusion of “immoral acts,” a provincial spokesman there said on X.
Sediqullah Quraishi, director of information in Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan, said that the connection also stopped working there from Wednesday.
The national government did not respond to requests for comment.
Zalmay Khalilzad, a former U.S. envoy to Afghanistan, called the ban in Balkh Province “absurd and unwise,” and its justification “insulting.”
“It will damage not only the province’s economy, but the country’s prospects as a whole,” Mr. Khalilzad, who met with Afghanistan’s foreign minister last week in the capital of Kabul to discuss the release of American hostages, said on X.
An administration official and a telecommunications official, both speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation, confirmed that the order had come from Sheikh Haibatullah, who is based in Kandahar, and had been conveyed to governors this month. Mobile internet was still accessible, although connectivity remains scarce in large swathes of the country.
Provincial and national officials from the Taliban-led administration have in recent weeks imposed broad restrictions on mass communications and individual freedoms on religious grounds. YouTubers have been banned from posting content; television channels have been ordered not to show faces in a growing number of provinces; and Afghan women working from United Nations agencies have been prevented from entering U.N. compounds in Kabul.
Internet traffic began to drop on Monday in at least seven of 34 provinces, according to traffic data complied by Access Now, a global digital rights group, though it was unclear if that was connected to the shutdown order.
“We’re in the 21st century and instead of making progress, unfortunately we go back,” said Israr Kamal, a snack trader in Kandahar who sells products online. “If the government wants to be an active partner of the world, they shouldn’t impose such restrictions on the people and society.”
Mr. Ezam, the provincial spokesman in Kandahar, said that officials there complained about the impact of the shutdown in a meeting with the governor on Wednesday. He added that the authorities were trying to come up with alternatives, such as granting limited access to essential government agencies and administrations.
Safiullah Padshah and Yaqoob Akbary contributed reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan.
Internet Shutdowns Hit Parts of Afghanistan Amid Talk of a Crackdown
The return of more than four million Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan since 2023 has intensified Afghanistan’s economic crisis, worsening unemployment, displacement, and humanitarian pressures.
Since September 2023, more than four million Afghans have been forced to return from Iran and Pakistan, including nearly 1.5 million in the current year alone.
According to Al Jazeera on Thursday, September 18, the sudden influx has placed enormous pressure on Afghanistan’s fragile economy, already weakened by years of conflict, isolation, and shrinking international aid.
The World Bank warned that the surge in returnees has worsened unemployment and could push Afghanistan into a deeper jobs crisis. By 2030, over one million additional young people are expected to enter the labor market, intensifying the strain.
The Bank cautioned that without urgent investment in education, vocational training, entrepreneurship, and job creation, many returnees may once again be forced to migrate abroad in search of survival.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) added that beyond cross-border returns, 350,000 Afghans were newly displaced in just the first four months of this year due to climate shocks, border closures, and internal insecurity.
Analysts say the mass return has become one of Afghanistan’s greatest humanitarian and economic challenges since 2021, reshaping demographics and overwhelming already stretched infrastructure and social services.
Aid agencies warn that unless international donors and regional partners step in with sustained support, Afghanistan could face spiraling poverty, renewed displacement, and long-term instability affecting millions of families.
Return of Over Four Million Migrants Deepens Afghanistan’s Economic Crisis
The United Nations says aid workers are still in a “race against time” to remove rubble and rebuild after the devastating earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan last month, killing at least 2,200 people and cutting off remote areas.
The 6.0-magnitude quake on Aug. 31 was shallow, destroying or causing extensive damage to low-rise buildings in the mountainous region. It hit late at night, and homes — mostly made of mud, wood, or rocks — collapsed instantly, becoming death traps.
Satellite data shows that about 40,500 truckloads of debris still needs to be cleared from affected areas in several provinces, the United Nations Development Program said Wednesday. Entire communities have been upended and families are sleeping in the open, it added.
The quake’s epicenter was in remote and rugged Kunar province, challenging rescue and relief efforts by the Taliban government and humanitarian groups. Authorities deployed helicopters or airdropped army commandos to evacuate survivors. Aid workers walked for hours on foot to reach isolated communities.
“This is a race against time,” said Devanand Ramiah, from the UNDP’s Crisis Bureau. “Debris removal and reconstruction operations must start safely and swiftly.”
People’s main demands were the reconstruction of houses and water supplies, according to a spokesman for a Taliban government committee tasked with helping survivors, Zia ur Rahman Speenghar.
People were getting assistance in cash, food, tents, beds, and other necessities, Speenghar said Thursday. Three new roads were under construction in the Dewagal Valley, and roads would be built to areas where there previously were none.
“Various countries and organizations have offered assistance in the construction of houses but that takes time. After the second round of assistance, work will begin on the third round, which is considering what kind of houses can be built here,” the spokesman said.
Afghanistan is facing a “perfect storm” of crises, including natural disasters like the recent earthquake, said Roza Otunbayeva, who leads the U.N. mission to the country.
The first Trump administration negotiated an American withdrawal from the country by 2021 and didn’t mention keeping the base.
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the U.S. is trying to reclaim the Afghanistan airbase that American troops abandoned in 2021 during their withdrawal from the country.
Trump has repeatedly attacked former President Joe Biden for handing over Bagram Airfield, the largest American military base in the country and a logistics hub for the 20-year international war effort there.
“We’re trying to get it back,” he said during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, adding that it’s “about an hour away from where China is developing its nuclear weapons.”
Trump did not elaborate as to whether his administration was speaking with the Taliban or how reclaiming the base tied into the Chinese nuclear program.
The U.S. in 2021 unceremoniously handed over Bagram — the hub of its post-9/11 war effort to oust the Taliban and target al-Qaeda — to Afghan forces. It was the most visible step to that point in the U.S. military withdrawal.
Trump has said repeatedly that he would never have given up Bagram.
Biden “went through the Afghanistan total disaster for no reason whatsoever. Trump said on Thursday. “We were going to leave Afghanistan but we were going to leave it with strength and dignity. We were going to keep Bagram, the big air base — one of the biggest air bases, we gave it to them for nothing.”
But the deal the first Trump administration negotiated with the Taliban in February 2020 paved the way for America’s departure and did not mention the base. It established a ceasefire between U.S. and Taliban forces pending a full withdrawal of American troops in 14 months. The U.S. also committed the Afghan government to release 5,000 imprisoned Taliban fighters.
Bagram was built by the Soviets in the 1950s and served as a main base during their own decadelong war. Bagram, at its peak as a U.S. base., hosted more than 100,000 troops and included extensive infrastructure, from long runways to a 50-bed hospital and prison.
Trump made the deadly U.S. withdrawal under Biden a topic of his reelection bid. He brought the families of 13 Marines killed at the Abbey Gate suicide bombing near Kabul airport in August 2021 to the Republican convention last year.
The ISIS-led bombing also killed 170 Afghan civilians gathered to try and get on the last U.S. cargo planes ferrying people out of the capital.
When Shahnaz went into labour, her husband Abdul called a taxi to take them to the only medical facility accessible to them.
“She was in a lot pain,” he says.
A 20-minute drive away, the clinic was in Shesh Pol village in Afghanistan’s north-eastern Badakhshan province. It was where their two older children were born.
Abdul sat next to Shahnaz comforting her as they drove over gravel tracks to reach help.
“But when we reached the clinic, we saw that it was closed. I didn’t know it had shut down,” he said, his face crumpling with agony.
The clinic in Shesh Pol is one of more than 400 medical facilities that closed down in Afghanistan, one of the world’s poorest countries, after the Trump administration cut nearly all US aid to the country earlier this year, in a drastic and abrupt move following the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
A single-storey structure with four small rooms, white paint peeling off its walls, the Shesh Pol clinic has USAID posters tacked up everywhere with information and guidance for pregnant women and new mothers.
It doesn’t look like much but in Badakhshan’s mountainous, unforgiving terrain, where a lack of access has been a major reason for historically high maternal mortality rates, the clinic was a critical lifeline, part of a wider programme implemented during the tenure of the US-backed government in the country, to reduce maternal and newborn deaths.
It had a trained midwife who assisted around 25-30 deliveries every month. It had a stock of medicines and injections, and it also provided basic healthcare services.
Other medical facilities are simply too far from Abdul’s village, and it was not without risk for Shahnaz to travel on bumpy roads. Abdul also didn’t have money to pay for a longer journey – renting the taxi cost 1,000 Afghani ($14.65; £12.70), roughly a quarter of his monthly income as a labourer. So they decided to return home.
“But the baby was coming and we had to stop by the side of the road,” Abdul said.
Shahnaz delivered their baby girl in the car. Shortly after, she died, bleeding profusely. A few hours later, before she could be named, their baby also died.
“I wept and screamed. My wife and child could’ve been saved if the clinic was open,” said Abdul. “We had a hard life, but we were living it together. I was always happy when I was with her.”
He doesn’t even have a photo of Shahnaz to hold on to.
There’s no certainty the mother and baby would’ve survived if they’d been treated at the clinic, but without it, they didn’t stand a chance, underlining the undeniable impact of US aid cuts in Afghanistan.
For decades, America has been the largest donor to Afghanistan, and in 2024, US funds made up a staggering 43% of all aid coming into the country.
The Trump administration has justified withdrawing it, saying there were “credible and longstanding concerns that funding was benefiting terrorist groups, including… the Taliban”, who govern the country. The US government further added that they had reports stating that at least $11m were “being siphoned or enriching the Taliban”.
The Taliban government denies that aid money was going into their hands.
“This allegation is not true. The aid is given to the UN, and through them to NGOs in provinces. They identify who needs the aid, and they distribute it themselves. The government is not involved,” said Suhail Shaheen, the head of the Taliban’s political office in Doha.
The Taliban government’s policies, especially its restrictions on women, the harshest in the world, have meant that after four years in power, it is still not recognised by most of the world. It’s also a key reason donors have been increasingly walking away from the country.
The US insists no one has died because of aid cuts. Shahnaz and her baby’s deaths are not recorded anywhere. Neither are countless others.
The BBC has documented at least half a dozen first-hand, devastating accounts in areas where USAID-supported clinics have shut down.
Right next to Shahnaz’s grave, villagers who had gathered around us pointed to two other graves. They told us both were of women who died in childbirth in the past four months – Daulat Begi and Javhar. Their babies survived.
Not far from the graveyard, we met Khan Mohammad whose wife, 36-year-old Gul Jan, died in childbirth five months ago. Their baby boy Safiullah died three days later.
“When she became pregnant, she would go to the clinic for check-ups. But midway through her pregnancy it shut down. During the delivery she had a lot of pain and blood loss,” Khan Mohammad said. “My children are sad all the time. No one can give them the love of a mother. I miss her every day. We had a sweet and loving life together.”
A roughly five-hour drive from Shesh Pol, inCawgani, another village where a USAID-backed clinic closed down, Ahmad Khan, the grief-stricken father of Maidamo showed us the room in their mud and clay home where she died giving birth to baby Karima.
“If the clinic had been open, she might have survived. And even if she had died, we would not have had regrets knowing the medics tried their best. Now we’re left with regret and pain. America did this to us,” he said, tears rolling down his face.
In another home a few lanes away, Bahisa tells us how terrifying it was to give birth at home. Her three other children were born in the Cawgani clinic.
“I was so scared. In the clinic, we had a midwife, medicines and injections. At home I had nothing, no painkillers. It was unbearable pain. I felt like life was leaving my body. I became numb,” she said.
The closure of clinics in villages has resulted in a surge of patients at the maternity ward of the main regional hospital in the provincial capital Faizabad.
Getting to it, through Badakhshan’s treacherous landscape is risky. We were shown a horrifying photo of a newborn baby, who was delivered on the way to Faizabad, and whose neck snapped before he got to the hospital.
We had visited the hospital back in 2022, and while it was stretched then, the scenes we saw this time were unprecedented.
In each bed, there were three women. Imagine having gone into labour, or just having gone through a miscarriage, and not even having a bed to yourself to lie in.
It’s what Zuhra Shewan, who suffered a miscarriage, had to endure.
“I was bleeding severely and didn’t even have a place to sit. It was really hard. By the time a bed is free, a woman could die bleeding,” she said.
Dr Shafiq Hamdard, the director of the hospital, said: “We have 120 beds in the hospital. Now we’ve admitted 300 to 305.”
While the patient load is swelling, the hospital, too, has faced sharp cuts in its funding.
“Three years ago our annual budget was $80,000. Now we have $25,000,” Dr Hamdard said.
By August this year, there had been as many maternal deaths recorded as there were for the whole of last year. Which means that at this rate, maternal mortality could increase by as much as 50% over last year.
Newborn deaths have already increased by roughly a third in the past four months, compared with the start of the year.
Razia Hanifi, the hospital’s head midwife, says she’s exhausted. “I have been working for the past 20 years. This year is the toughest, because of the overcrowding, the shortage of resources and the shortage of trained staff,” she said.
But no reinforcements are coming because of the Taliban government’s restrictions on women. Three years ago, all higher education, including medical education was banned for women. Less than a year ago, in December 2024, training for midwives and female nurses was also banned.
At a discreet location, we met two female students who were midway through the training when it was closed. They didn’t want to be identified for fear of reprisal.
Anya (name changed) said they both were in graduate courses at university when the Taliban took over. When those were closed in December 2022, they began midwife and nursing training, as it was the only path left to getting an education and a job.
“When that was also banned, I became depressed. I was crying day and night, and I wasn’t able to eat. It’s a painful situation,” she said.
Karishma (named changed) said: “There is already a shortage of midwives and nurses in Afghanistan. Without more being trained, women will be forced to give birth at home which will put them at risk.”
We asked the Taliban government’s Suhail Shaheen how they can justify bans which effectively curb access to health for half the population.
“It is our internal issue. These are our issues, how to handle them, how to consider them, how to take decisions, this is something internal. That is up to the leadership. Based on the needs of the society, they will take a decision,” he said.
With their access to medical services severely restricted, by wave after wave of crushing blows, for Afghanistan’s women, their right to health, and life itself, is at grave risk.
The United Nations says aid workers are still in a “race against time” to remove rubble and rebuild after the devastating earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan last month, killing at least 2,200 people and cutting off remote areas.
The 6.0-magnitude quake on Aug. 31 was shallow, destroying or causing extensive damage to low-rise buildings in the mountainous region. It hit late at night, and homes — mostly made of mud, wood, or rocks — collapsed instantly, becoming death traps.
Satellite data shows that about 40,500 truckloads of debris still needs to be cleared from affected areas in several provinces, the United Nations Development Program said Wednesday. Entire communities have been upended and families are sleeping in the open, it added.
The quake’s epicenter was in remote and rugged Kunar province, challenging rescue and relief efforts by the Taliban government and humanitarian groups. Authorities deployed helicopters or airdropped army commandos to evacuate survivors. Aid workers walked for hours on foot to reach isolated communities.
“This is a race against time,” said Devanand Ramiah, from the UNDP’s Crisis Bureau. “Debris removal and reconstruction operations must start safely and swiftly.”
People’s main demands were the reconstruction of houses and water supplies, according to a spokesman for a Taliban government committee tasked with helping survivors, Zia ur Rahman Speenghar.
People were getting assistance in cash, food, tents, beds, and other necessities, Speenghar said Thursday. Three new roads were under construction in the Dewagal Valley, and roads would be built to areas where there previously were none.
“Various countries and organizations have offered assistance in the construction of houses but that takes time. After the second round of assistance, work will begin on the third round, which is considering what kind of houses can be built here,” the spokesman said.
Afghanistan is facing a “perfect storm” of crises, including natural disasters like the recent earthquake, said Roza Otunbayeva, who leads the U.N. mission to the country.
Afghanistan Peace Campaign
